Well, Ringers, it's been one heck of night. An epic battle was fought on Twitter, and Twihards have been exposed for Twibots. The source of the huge swings in the numbers was found and disabled. And I can say with 90% certainty that Bilbo will win the award if Ringers keep an eye on the graph.... and play the game the same way the Twihards do.

I think my bot-ish voting days are done, and I can now sit back and relax for the most part. It's been great fun....and the end for my Twitter account is almost neigh. Remember to thank Emil, Gothmog, and botwatch1937 for their diligent work. Without them Ringers would never have gotten wise to all the cheating. Night all. Azog: Defiling since 2790

Spotted. Yeah, I've been on the front lines in a way. But I think it's time put away my twitter axe and go back to the quiet forum life. You guys deserve this award.... and this is more than a victory for Bilbo and Ringers, it's a victory for the forces of common sense. Will be sure to watch the MTV awards. Just the Bilbo bit, that is. Don't care about the other awards and fake heroes.

Without him and his awesome coding skills, the Twihards/Twibots would have won the day, and we would have been none the wiser to the extent of their malicious cheating. Please remember it takes a bit of money to host a busy webpage. He could use a buck or two. Azog: Defiling since 2790

Bilbo has broken through the 50k mark. The Twihards are cat-fighting among themselves, and all is right on Twitter. Victory is assured as long as the Ringers stay vigilant. The Ringers pulled off something extraordinary and I'm proud of them. My Twitter days are done:

http://twitter.com/andrew_eva

For posterity. Not my real name...but analogous to it. Well done Ringers. Now, back to lurking and the 'quiet' forum life. Azog: Defiling since 2790

So... MTV proved themselves the jerks I've always known them to be. No surprise there. Cheer up, Ringers. You've found new allies on Twitter, and this was just a dry run for bigger things if you keep your heads up. DoS and TABA are coming. You've established yourselves in the Twitterverse, and the Twihards fear you... despite what they say publicly.

As for what happened, I think I've got a good idea what was going on in the heads of the MTV show runners. They didn't anticipate Bilbo whacking the competition with Sting. They had planned their show for a SW or Iron Man win, but Ringers foiled the Twibots. The cheating was so obvious that MTV had to spam filter the Twibot source. They reported that the race was "close" just before the show, in hopes that audience voting would close the gap. No such luck. The Ringer Bot-patrol was on the watch, and the gap was just too great. When they realized Bilbo was unassailable, they changed the announcement to a minor backstage mention. I'm sure they'd prepared stuff for all the other heroes, but not Bilbo because he came out of nowhere.... and was really meant as sort of mean joke.

Told you about the 'cool' crowd --nasty, tricksey, false, they are. MTV has ruined countless teenagers, so don't feel bad about not being in their esteem. Their day of reckoning will come. I promise you that much.

And I'm staying on Twitter. I like it a lot more than I thought I would. :) Thanks for a great time.... and I'll be watching from now on. Azog: Defiling since 2790

But they didn't announce it during the live show, just a backstage mention. They have essentially turned a blind eye in official press releases. I'm not bothered. It's no more than what I expected from those low-lifes. The real victory is the experience the Ringers gained as a result of the vote. Twihards beware.... there is a new presence your supposed domain. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Azog: Defiling since 2790

I was twittering my heart out, along with other fanatic Ringers! I think because they allowed the voting to continue even through a good part of the awards, they had never really planned it as part of the award ceremony--it was a purely online Twitter and Instagram phenomenon. A shame really, that The Hobbit didn't get the respect it deserved, after all the time and dedication the fans put into voting--the final total was 1,637,179. And even on MTV's Best Hero page, in the categories section, best hero is listed--but wasn't on the main award ceremony page.

TORn is now encouraging people to tweet with the hashtag #BilboTheHero, to get it trending (?) I don't use Twitter very often so not sure what it means to be trending, except that it's a good thing '"Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!" he said to himself, and it became a favourite saying of his later, and passed into a proverb.'

They changed closing date for votes on Friday, two days before the live show. At that point, Bilbo was in the lead and we were starting to get a handle on the Twibots. We were 50k ahead in the hours leading up to the live event, plenty of time to organize a two minute announcement with a quick montage at the end of the live show. No, Aragalen, they just didn't want their 'joke' contender to be a front page winner. I hold a grudge, and so does LTGothmog. Ringers remember.... and I'll remember this nasty little insult. Yes. And when the opportunity to hit back at MTV comes, I will be the first in line to punch their lights out.

AUJ isn't getting a lot of respect. Perhaps that will change with the next 2 movies. But yes, I agree that it shouldn't have taken much to make an announcement and short montage, at the end of the show. And I am also trending #BilboTheHero whenever I can too! '"Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!" he said to himself, and it became a favourite saying of his later, and passed into a proverb.'

(and I will admit it seemed kind of insulty to me)... will soften over time.

One: I'd hate to have Tolkien fans perceived as aggressive and vengeful.

Two: I don't like the idea of Twilight. I will heartily admit I've never read the books or watched the movie and my only exposure to the story is by way of the clips I've seen in promotion of the movie. But there is an angsty element to it that I think taps into a certain type of hormonal state of young girls and it feeds off and heightens that emotional state. And, clearly remembering my own years in that hormonal state, I don't think it's healthy. I will own up to my own bias about this issue and ignorance about Twilight and its fans.

But, I know that many people I respect have read and enjoyed Twilight. And I don't like to slam other people's fandoms so I try to keep from getting snarky about Twihards.

That said, I got a little sad reading some of their tweets yesterday. In my mind, I imagine the people tweeting hundreds of times for Kristin Stewart as young girls. They are passionate and emotional and hormonal and that's just what we can expect from that age group.

And I imagine the Tolkien fandom - as a whole, including the ones who participated in this twitter campaign - as a bit older. A bit wiser. A bit savvier in many aspects.

At some point, trying to make this a Tolkien vs Twilight issue makes it becomes a bunch of big kids ganging up on the younger ones.

Let's leave them be. Let's celebrate our fandom and show our numbers and strength while focusing on the object of our fandom and our community and not on someone else and who they are or what they like.

This is a plea from an old woman who has lived through many ages of womanhood and can wince at things young teens do sometimes but has to respect that we all go through the stages of life just as we're meant to.

And I said foil.... not hate on or stalk. That's not my style. I'll just keep my eyes and ears open is all. The Twihards would have won another ill-earned victory if wasn't for Emil and LTGothmogs army. The Twihards bear watching, and they will be watched from now on. Constant vigilance, Ringers. Constant never-ending vigilance is also how you keep the forces of darkness at bay.... Azog: Defiling since 2790